A large number of hand tools such as hoes, spades, and axes exist which are adapted to have a built-in water-conveying ability in addition to their more commonly associated mechanical function. In the areas of gardening, mixing of cement and mortar, and firefighting, in particular, such "water tools" have been found to be especially useful. They provide that the worker need not have to bother with a separate water source--a garden hose or bucket, for example-in order to supply the water that is needed at a work site when cultivating, mixing, or extinguishing, etc. In the case of the mixing or slurrying of cementitious "dry mix" products especially, they further provide that a correct water:mix ratio is more easily obtained since the water may be introduced in multiple small portions as the mixture is alternately stirred and agitated with the mechanical aspect of the tool (i.e., a hoe blade).
Most of the prior art tools which are adapted to convey water include a blade of some form--a hoe, spade or axe blade, etc. A common theme among these inventions is the incorporation of a design wherein the water that is conveyed by the tool (generally via a tubular handle body) is emitted in such a manner that it is caused to impinge or otherwise be broadly dispersed upon the blade surface. This is done so that the blade may be simultaneously cleaned in the process of delivering the water and/or so that the force of the water is dissipated to avoid undue disruption of the solid media (e.g., soil or dry mix) that is being worked.
Shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,143,984, issued to Morasch in 1964, is a garden hoe comprised of a tubular water-conveying handle body in communication with a transversely mounted tubular hoe head. The hoe head incorporates a plurality of water-emitting apertures located at the uppermost part of a depending hoe blade. The apertures are purposefully oriented to direct the emitted water in a broad cleaning fashion along both of the inner and outer blade surfaces so that clinging soil may be washed away and so that spot watering of plants may be achieved without disruption of the garden soil. The invention of Morasch might obviously be used for the mixing of cementitious dry mix as well.
Similar to Morasch is U.S. Pat. No. 1,408,584, issued to Glasgow in 1922. Again a hoe is provided, this time for mixing cement. A tubular handle for conveying water is also provided, but rather than provide an associated tubular hoe head, a distinct "sprinkler" element is connected atop the tubular handle which directs streams of water against the inner face of a conventional hoe blade. The sprinkler orifices are again located at the uppermost part of the hoe blade (actually slightly thereabove) and are specifically oriented to distribute the emitted water as a film along the blade and thus broadly over the dry mix.
Another mortar mixing tool is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,764,699 issued to Simola et al. in 1930. In this case, a secondary tubular structure for conveying water is attached in parallel fashion to a completely conventional (i.e., solid wood) hoe handle. The water is emitted from an outlet orthogonally directed against the inner hoe blade face so that the water is again caused to be broadly dispersed.
With respect to the mixing of cement and mortar, each of the foregoing inventions are identically deficient. For while they are useful in that they eliminate the need for the worker to have to exchange back and forth between a hoe and a separate water supply in the course of gradually combining water with the dry mix to obtain a desired consistency, and while they also assist in making less difficult the attainment of a proper water to dry mix ratio, they fail to realize that the emitted water itself may be used to aid in the mixing and slurrying process (as will later be detailed) and not just be conveyed to the site of use in some convenient, integral fashion.
Due to the high density and natural compaction of cementitious dry mixes, it is very difficult to penetrate and stir such materials with a conventional mixing tool (i.e., a hoe or hoe-like tool) prior to the in-mixing of water. In the case of each of the foregoing inventions, the water is (or would be) merely deposited on top of the layer of dry mix or, at best, into a depression created by the hoe blade just prior to release of water. As such mixes do not readily absorb water, the water remains separate until it is aggressively stirred into the dry material. Thus, inventions such as the foregoing, in terms of effecting the rate of dissolution and slurrification of dry mix, are little better than methods in which water is added portionwise from a bucket into a wheel barrow or other container of the mix with alternate stirring with a conventional mixing tool.
Additional prior art of interest is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,326,306 and 2,181,189. The '306 patent, issued to Weir in 1967, provides a "water spade" having a tubular water-conveying body with a slotted end within which a triangular blade (or blades) is fixed. Water is caused to flow in parallel relation from the top and to each side of the blade. In the process, the blade is cleaned and the force of the flow of water also assists in the "drilling" of holes by dislodging and softening compacted earth.
In the '189 patent, issued to Lathan in 1939, is shown what may be deemed a "water fork." Again a tubular water-conveying body is provided. At one end, the tubular body is bent to form an integral, angled handle portion, at the other, the body is partially flattened to provide for a wider flow of water upon the tines of a fork portion. The fork portion is attached to the tubular body by slotting the flattened body portion, inserting the fork portion into the slot, and then welding it in place. The water flows from very near the top of the fork (blade) portion, as it does in the case of every other such similar tool having an associated blade as has been known heretofore.
The methodologies of Weir and Lathan, even were they adapted to hoe structures suitable for mixing cementitious materials, still would not utilize the emitted water in ways that most advantageously increase the rate of mixing of the cementitious materials.
Because of the limitations associated with presently available tools, a great need still exists for a tool that is capable of conveniently conveying water in a built-in or integral fashion while also utilizing the emitted water in a manner that increases the rate of dissolution and suspension of dry cementitious materials into the water and which further reduces the effort needed to stir or otherwise agitate such a mixture in the process of obtaining a slurry.